The first month or so of the college football season is as much about how conferences fare against each other as it is about which teams win.

The ACC, forever trying to shed its reputation as the fifth best of the major football leagues, gets three shots to knock off the neighborhood bully SEC during the opening weekend.

Tonight, North Carolina takes on No. 6 South Carolina, one of six Southeastern Conference teams ranked in the Top 12 of the AP preseason poll.

Virginia Tech can pull off a huge upset Saturday when it faces No. 1 Alabama in Atlanta.

The main event comes Saturday night in Death Valley — the one in South Carolina. No. 8 Clemson plays No. 5 Georgia. It's the Tigers' third straight game against the SEC after losing to South Carolina to end last regular season and beating LSU in the Chick-fil-A bowl.